Facts on File Encyclopedia of Health and Medicine

Sigmoidoscopy (for the lower colon) and colonoscopy (for the full length of the colon) allow the gastroenterologist to detect an ...

Treatments for cancer offer varying benefits and risks. Cancer experts often recommend obtaining a second opinion evaluation fro ...

diligent attention. Cancer SUPPORT GROUPSprovide excellent opportunities to share experiences and feelings in a protected settin ...

colostomy. It is important to empty or change the colostomy bag frequently and regularly and to cleanse the skin around the stom ...

These measures facilitate a return to gastroin- testinal regularity for most people. Constipation that extends beyond two or thr ...

D diarrhea Watery or frequent bowel movements. Diarrhea can have serious health consequences for the very young, the very old, a ...

MOUTH, STOMACH, and SMALL INTESTINEto assist in absorbing NUTRIENTSfrom foods. Gastrointestinal structures produce dozens of dig ...

toms. Diverticular disease tends to have a more intense course in people who are under age 50 at the time of diagnosis. Symptoms ...

absorb the nutrient molecules that result from the duodenum’s activity. The duodenum is the most common site of the ulcers that ...

E endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatogra- phy (ERCP) An endoscopic procedure that allows diagnostic as well as therapeutic ...

endoscopy 39 Procedure Description and Purpose Preparation esophagoscopy flexible scope with a camera for viewing the fasting fo ...

the bowel. This requires surgical repair and ANTIBI- OTIC MEDICATIONSto prevent PERITONITIS. Most peo- ple return to full and re ...

getting stuck when swallowing. Other symptoms include unintentional weight loss and sensations that are a combination of pressur ...

confusion (hepatic ENCEPHALOPATHY) resulting from toxins the damaged liver can no longer filter from the blood. ENDOSCOPY (in wh ...

F familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) A genetic disorder in which hundreds of intestinal polyps grow in the RECTUMand COLON. FA ...

bowel movements to expel it. Increased fiber in the diet, stool softeners (medications that help the stool retain fluid), increa ...

performing the tests (seven days for aspirin and NONSTEROIDAL ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DRUGS [NSAIDS]). Women should do FOBT when they ...

G gallbladder A small, muscular pouch on the underside of the LIVERthat concentrates and stores BILE. The gallbladder absorbs ab ...

Symptoms and Diagnostic Path PAINis the primary symptom of gallbladder dis- ease, and is characteristically: steady, sometimes ...

gallbladder disease. Dietary fiber helps absorb cho- lesterol from consumed foods, reducing the amount of cholesterol that becom ...